Thank you Major-Baby, RoseLight, HM4077, gigletrig, funwriter777, Kilikina1 for your reviews, they were the first I read and I did so on the 12th of November, my birthday, so that was one of the best birthday presents ever. Thanks for the kind and encouraging words. Well to get on with it, as I have said before the MASH characters are not mine, sadly far from it, they're FOX's.

Slowly she levelled her gaze with his; it was now or never, "Hawkeye, I'm pregnant." Time stopped...

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Benjamin Franklin Pierce sat on his bed, staring out the window at the moon shrouded backyard and contemplated for the thousandth time what had just happened. She'd just turned up on his doorstep, out of the blue. He didn't know who he'd been expecting, but it wasn't her. He remembered opening the door slowly, briefly wondering who would be calling that late at night, and greeting her in his most cheery nature. He also remembered how his throat had dried up at the sight of her. His stomach had performed a double back flip and it felt as if someone had reached inside him and given his heart a quick turn for good measure.

Margaret Houlihan, the woman who had been haunting his mind ever since his lips had touched hers in that amazing kiss back in Korea. Her hair was a little more silvery then he remembered and there were dark bags under her eyes, he was so enthralled and put off guard by her presence he didn't even notice that she had gained a bit more girth. He had to fight the urge t reach out and touch her, to make sure she was real. For one of the first times in his life, he was at a loss of what to say. This woman, who had been walking through his mind near on six months now, was right there, standing before him. Reeling, he asked her inside and admitted that it was nice to see her, but she shook her head at his invitation and wouldn't budge. It was raining outside and her hair was plastered to her cheeks, her clothes clung to her curvaceous form. If he weren't struck dumb by shock, he would've made some sort of suggestive comment. Instead he opted to ask her what was wrong. It was at that precise moment that his world decided to crash down around him, it was if the archetypal grand piano chose that moment to land precisely on his salt and peppered charcoal head.

"Hawkeye, I'm pregnant."

Time stopped.

What did that mean? She was pregnant, so what? Why was she telling him? Was that why she'd driven all the way here? To tell him some other man had done him the pleasure of knocking her up? These, and several thousand more, questions ran through his head in the space of about ten seconds. Swallowing hard her ushered her in, unable to speak in anything other then stunned grunts. Leading her into the living room, he pointed to a spare arm chair and flopped down onto the couch opposite her. They sat in silence a moment, until he a finger and seemed to be thinking out something to say. Nothing came out, so he dropped his hand. Margaret leant forward, but didn't speak either. Finally he couldn't help it, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Are you married?"

It wasn't exactly what she was hoping for, he could tell. He didn't want to hurt her, he was just…dumb founded. She nodded silently.

"Who's the lucky guy?" he asked. Her cheeks turned a healthy shade of red and she dropped her gaze to her lap.

"Well, do I know him?" he asked.

"Maybe" she croaked, speaking for the first time since her incredible admission.

"Well?" he prompted, but her response was mumbled.

"Margaret?"

"Lt. Colonel Donald Penobscot" she whispered timidly. Hawkeye muttered a few choice words then and proceeded to knock the closest vase over. Staring at the shattered remains a thought struck him, what had happened to his Margaret Houlihan? Where was the woman he knew in Korea? He didn't know the woman seated before him, with her meek nature and hesitant characteristics. The Margaret he knew was fiery and empowered, she wasn't Hotlips or Major Houlihan, and she definitely wasn't this shadow before him. That's what she had become, a shadow of her old self, a mere ghost of the woman he had come to know in every which way possible.

Slowly coming back to his senses, he lifted his gaze to meet hers and blanched at the sight before him. He'd been a doctor for the longest time he could remember and had delivered many a baby and nursed several mothers through their pregnancies, yet he had never seen one who looked as empty as Margaret Penobscot nee Houlihan. Her gaze was devoid of light and fire, something he was quite accustomed to her having an abundance of.

"Why are you here Margaret?" he asked resignedly. Her eyes flickered at the sound of her name and for a moment he saw the passion that she used to emanate flash across her face.

"I needed to come" she whispered.

"But why?"

"I woke up yesterday morning and for the first time in a long time I felt something. I woke up and I knew I had to come here. That's all I knew; I just had to come." The speech would be impassioned, quite moving, if it weren't for the fact her voice had become monotonous, as if rusty due to lack of use. She had become bland, something he never thought he'd call her. Sighing, he nodded and slowly stood. He offered her his hand and helped her up. Leading her down the hall he offered her a room. He'd try to get some real sense out of her in the morning, there was no chance of that now. As she closed the door behind herself, after thanking him and borrowing some night clothes, Hawkeye breathed a melancholy sigh.

"What happened to you Margaret Houlihan?"

Sorry it took so long to get this out there to you guys, but I've just been studying for exams and organising end of year events etc. Now that school's all done fore the year I have plenty of time to update and post, so hopefully it won't take me so long next time. Oh well, thanks for the reviews they were great pressies.